How I got rid of my intestinal parasites

As for me, I sometimes had some little pain around the intestines. I also had some gaz. I was a bit bloated… well, digestion wise, it wasn’t working so good. So I decided to get tested and find out whether I had intestinal parasites or not.

Asking the doctor, and insisting if you must

My doctor is my dad. He is a cardiologist. He does care about my health and fatigue, but he really is an “old school” doctor. He doesn’t care much about food and digestion. So one day I decided I should try and bring that subject up. Since he is a doctor and therefore knows everything, he quickly stopped me: “you can have parasites only after and exotique journey, and only if you have fever or stomach cramps”.

A few days later, I try again: “I found some documentation, and it appears possible to have parasites without showing any symptom. What do you think?”. He kind of avoided the question. He doesn’t really know, and doesn’t really care much either.

It’s by keeping insisting that I managed to get a prescription for the stool analysis with parasitology. I think that you may also have to insist in order to get the prescription. The trick is to always pretend that you know nothing compared to what your doctors knows. Whatever happens, do not claim that you know better because you’ve read this or that (I can do that with my dad, because, you know, it’s my dad, and also he is a bit stubborn). I would even recommend that you go emotional: “I think you are completely right, doctor, I worry for no reason. The thing is that it obsesses me and that obsession won’t go away unless I get tested. It’s the only way for me to move on and feel better.” That has to work!

Doing the test

I’ve already done a pretty drawing in the previous article, so I won’t do it again. The principle is basic: you go the the lab and show them your prescription. From that point, they’re gonna explain you the process: “here is a plastic cup…” So you head back home, and you poop in the little cup. You close it properly, and you give it back to the lab, with a nice smile. You should get the results within a week or less. Easy peasy.

The results

Bingo. I indeed had some parasites in my intestines. The idea of hosting parasites is not very exciting, but the idea of getting rid of them is much more thrilling. Will my digestion get fixed? Will my fatigue too?

Also, I’m really glad it’s only unicellular parasites and not worms. It’s much much less scary.

So, the squatters were: Endolimax Nana et Blastocystis Hominis. Never heard those names before, but not intending to keep them.

Getting rid of your parasites

I then proudly send the results to my dad (who, as I said before, is my doctor). He answers that the results say I’m just fine.

What do you mean by “just fine” ????!!! I have fucking parasites in my intestines and you find it normal? He answers that those parasites are just “non pathogen”. Which means they are supposed to be cool, that they don’t want to do me any harm, so no need to get rid of them.

No way. I’m not gonna keep those. So I get an appointment with a Gastro enterologist. First big surprise: “Oh, it’s quite surprising that you found something. Parasitology test wouldn’t have been my first guess”. (Well, not that surprising if you’ve read my previous article that says that the medical profession completely neglects intestinal parasites… )

Second surprise, but a good one: “We now know that you must be treated for those. I’ll give you a prescription”. So, from what I understand, they thought they where non pathogen before, but eventually they were wrong. Cool, I’ll be able to get rid of them!

It’s really crazy to be able to say: keep those parasites inside your intestines because we haven’t understood what they may or may not do. For me, a parasite must go. No fucking debate!

A week with Flagyl, another week with Intertrix, and voilà!

It’s a two-time treatment. The Flagyl takes care of the protozoas, and the Intertrix get rid of the kystes. One drug for each of the two life cycles of the parasites.

Then what?

I go back to the Gastro enterologist doctor after the treatment. The bloating have diminished a lot but I still have a few. I have read on the web that the treatment does not kill the parasites: it prevents them from reproducing, but don’t actually kill them. So you may have to wait a bit more until they die. That would explain why I still experience some bloating.

“You’re still bloated? That’s only because you eat too fast. You need to chew your food properly.” Well, the doctor was wrong. I know I eat too fast, but a few days later, I had no more bloating! Youhou. (And I still eat too fast)

So, that was basically a great move. No more bloating (along with the stinky farting that goes with it). Still, my fatigue is still there. And I still sometimes have some pain around the intestines. I need to keep on searching.

Did you try the test too? How did it go? Leave a message in the comments.